664 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



report of last year, in order to Khortcn the process of catal()«:;iiing the 

 pamphlets which were accumulating from year to year, it was de- 

 cided to make for the less important ones only temporary author 

 cards, with an abbreviated inij:»rint, and to keep the pamphlets thus 

 catahigued in a separate collection in pamphlet boxes arranged ac- 

 cording to the library classification. This collection now numbers 

 1,489. On account of pressure of other work only 347 pamphlets were 

 added to the collection during the past year. In addition to this 

 collection of pamphlets, which are represented in the catalogue only 

 by author cards, the Library has accumulated a considerable number 

 of " reprints " from periodicals contained in the Library. This col- 

 lection during the past year was arranged alphabetically by the au- 

 thors of the articles and placed in pamphlet boxes. The collection 

 numbers 1,100. The chief use of tlie collection up to the present 

 time has been in connection with interlibrary loans. ^Vhen the loan 

 of a periodical is requested and the particular article desired is known, 

 the " reprint " of the article, in case it is contained in our collection, 

 is sent instead of the volume of the periodical. This is a saving of 

 postage and of wear and tear on the bound volume, which remains in 

 the Librar}'' available for reference. It is hoped that eventually it 

 will be possible to make abbreviated author cards for the " reprints." 

 The collection can then be classified by subject and incorporated with 

 the other pamphlet collection described above. The Library would be 

 glad to receive collections of '* reprints " on subjects of interest in 

 connection with the work of the department. 



Printed cards for all the current publications of the department 

 were prepared during the year, the number of titles being 355. The 

 demands for these cards from libraries and agricultural institutions 

 are steadily increasing. 



Little work has been done during the year in the revision of the 

 catalogue, the need for which is very great. Changes in the cata- 

 loguing staff and the overcrowded condition of the cataloguing room 

 have hampered the current work, and as a result the services of none 

 of the cataloguers have been available for the revision of the cata- 

 logue. It is necessary for two of the cataloguers to have their desks 

 in cramped quarters in the book rooms some distance from the cata- 

 loguing room, an inconvenient arrangement, which retards the work. 

 It is earnestly hoped that the coming year will bring some relief by 

 providing an additional room adjoining the present cataloguing room. 



PERIODICALS. 



The total number of different periodicals received during the year 

 was 1,978, exclusive of annuals and other serials of infrequent issue, 

 a decrease of 24 as compared with the previous year. This decrease 

 is accounted for by the fact that the number of new periodicals added 

 during the year was 106, while the number of periodicals which 

 censed publication was 130. Of the total number of periodicals re- 

 ceived, 756 were purchased and 1,222 received by gift and exchange. 

 To the number of different periodicals purchased should be added 

 76 duplicates, making a total of 832 periodicals purchased at a cost 

 of approximately $3,300. Of the 1,978 periodicals currently received 

 by the Library nearly one-fourth are permanently filed in the 



